Introductions are in order. I am Blake Lawrence; amateur cyclist, amateur foodie, amateur writer, amateur law student, full-time cynic (but not in the annoying way), and part-time Facebook addict. After deciding that blogging was in my near-future I pondered what it was that I enjoyed enough to write about habitually. Naturally I thought of my hobbies. I enjoy cycling, but not enough to write much about it – on a great week I will ride 30 miles. I enjoy wine and spirits, but have neither the liver nor the pocketbook to conjure up enough information for a weekly or even a bi-weekly blog post. After some brief searching I came across Eric’s blog here. Loving both wine AND wheels, I thought I might give this a shot. Please indulge…

Let’s start with the wine. For me, wine drinking is an experience. While a fantastic and complex wine is always a pleasure, it is never a necessity. Instead of thinking of the subtle flavors of the 2002 Rombauer Merlot that I enjoyed celebrating a birthday, I think more of the 2002 Blackstone Merlot that my now-fiancé, then new girlfriend, enjoyed on our first date. I remember more of the flavors and feelings of the Blackstone than the intricacy and nuance of the Rombauer. This is not to say that a wine-drinker should only enjoy wine that has some sentimental value attached to it. Quite to the contrary, grab a new bottle, a new vineyard, a new varietal, a new something and make an experience. While my wine critiques may be a bit on the under-developed side, hopefully they will come with a little bit of humor, a bit of thoughtfulness, and a bit of suggestion.

Now for the inner-cyclist in me. I began cycling about 4 years ago, during my freshman year of college. I own a 2004 Fuji Roubaix Sport, a triple ring that carries Shimano 105 shifters, a TruVativ crankset, Shimano Ultegra derailleurs, and Riley wheels. I have done very little in the realm of upgrades, but I have purchased SiDi hard-soled cleats to go with a slick set of Team Gerolsteiner Shimano pedals (baby blue, naturally). I really enjoy riding my bike; sadly, though, I live in a town that isn’t terribly conducive to cycling. Everything is awfully spread out – I live 15 miles from my school and 18 miles from my job. However, I will be moving much closer to both, so I hope to start biking to school and work. I went out riding yesterday and was reminded of what I truly love about cycling – the wind, the nature, the feeling of accomplishment that comes from covering 20 miles of ground. I have never been a runner, so anything above a mile or so seems like something worth celebrating. This summer I hope to bring some fun and entertaining cycling stories to life, some that hopefully readers will enjoy.

So thus far I have proven that I enjoy wine and enjoy cycling. That should come naturally from someone writing on a blog entitled Wine and Wheels. Perhaps a display of skill is in order… Lucky for you, I have purchased a superb (albeit a surprising) wine to review for this inaugural entry. For your reading, and more importantly drinking pleasure, I present the 2007 337 Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon.

You read that correctly, the vintner is named 337, hailing from Manteca, California. Manteca is about 90 miles Southeast of Napa Valley, directly east of the San Francisco bay. Their Lodi selection is chosen from a special subset of their vineyard, which is regarded to be a bit more flavorful than their common stock. I have to say, this was surprising wine from the very beginning. I truly love Cabernet Sauvignon, always have. I love the dryness, the tannins, the full body. I expected all of these classics from the mid-priced California Cab that I tasted today. What I found was something different, something good.

At first whiff, this wine put off a strong dark cherry flavor that seemed almost peppery after a long inhale. After another examination, the pepper scent dissipated into a great finish of chocolate that was extremely subtle. I was most definitely ready to taste. The sip was a bit dryer than I expected, but not in an uncomfortable way. As a Cab should be, this was a dry wine. But the 337 had something different. Unlike some California Cabs, this wine was elegant, yet approachable. I didn’t feel that I needed to thoroughly dissect the flavors or attempt to define its casking method. I just enjoyed it. An oaky finish concluded a fantastic mouthful, though most of the wine’s flavor was in its tip.

The very strange thing, to me, about this wine was the fact that it actually seemed light and crisp. Strange, I know, for Cabs are usually of the heavier, more tannin-ed varietal. The lightness could stem from a flavor of citrus that I gleaned from the taste. Confused, I consulted the label to see what the vintner wanted me to taste. I found, much to my surprise, that the wine had a spiciness to it, a peppery component. While I found that in the nose, it was not exhibited in the taste. The taste of the wine would lead me to pair it not with the classic steak or heavy meat that most Cabs tend to be enjoyed with, but rather a chicken dish – and not a heavy one. This Cab would definitely work with a summer salad, rice or light pasta, even fruit salad. I would stay away from any dish that utilized a cream base, though, as the cream would overpower the subtle summery-ness of this Cab.

Overall, this was a dry but unimposing Cabernet. This came as a big surprise to me, whose experience with California Cabs and Merlots has been a spicy, peppercorn-heavy one. The label suggests a food pairing of filet or slow-roasted meat, but I would steer clear of that. Take the 337 Cabernet Sauvignon on a summer-afternoon picnic and enjoy it with something crisp, something fresh, something outdoors! Experiment with this one, it was a big shock to me.

Until next time, keep your glasses full and your sunglasses on.

Well the weekend is here and we will all, hopefully, have our fun, our sun, and our projects. What’s that? You need something to do? Bring out the power tools, here’s your first project:

Over at the Blue Collar Mountain Biking site, they have a great post from a little over a year ago on how to build your very own ‘blue collar bicycle stand.’ I modified the support structure a bit, and added a few more bolts here an there, and that’s it. It should be enough to hold a light-weight tandem for some simple tuning of brakes and spokes. And, most of all, it was fun. You may download the plans for this project here, or view them as a full resolution image. What’s that you say? You need a wine to accompany your build-a-tandem-bicycle-stand project?

Might I recommend the politically-savvy and well-branded 2004 Red Bicyclette Chardonnay? Chill it deeply, that is, deeper than you normally would because you’ll be in the sunshine, out doors, working on this bike stand. Fitting and apt for your project is the wine label, although this time we here at wineandwheels.com did not purchase the bottle because we have a bad habit of prejudging a wine by its label. Nope. This time we bought it because, well, we’re American and it has the word “bicyclette!”

Gerry Glasgow, the vice president of marketing for E & J Gallo Winery, upon traveling to France with other Gallo executives comments on the almost 5,000 photos they returned with:

Red bicycles seemed to recur in the pictures [...] but red bikes sounded American, so it became Red Bicyclette. French, but easily translatable (emphasis added).

Baguettes in a handlebar basket, a bicyclist in a beret, and a little dog (with a baguette in its mouth, how bone-afied!) were added and a brand image was born. Finally, as Frank Prial, no stranger to the catch phrase wrote last year for the New York Times:

Studies have shown that 90 percent of all wine drunk in this country is consumed within 30 days after it is purchased, indicating that aging and cellaring are irrelevant for most consumers. Like Yellow Tail, the new Gallo line of French wines, Red Bicyclette, counts on a catchy name and clever packaging – not wine snobbery – to make sales.

So fear not if this isn’t in your cellar; get ye to a nunnery winery and pick up a bottle for the weekend.